Frets and Finalizations

I am at work this afternoon, but I have taken a minute to write this up.

Here is the saga of my attempt to book a flight:

I have been in discussions with a travel agent for the last little while, and everything looked to be going smoothly until I told him that the person who will be paying for the plane tickes, my uncle, is overseas at the moment. As it turns out, his Travel agency prohibits him from accepting payments from overseas if they don't know the client. So there goes all the planning and details down the tubes!

DRAT!

Rather than let that get me down, I looked into arranging to get the same Air Canada
flight booked on-line. Because my departure date is less that 15 days away, however, the price for the ticket is over $2000 now, even with their so-called "seat sale"!!

I absoluetly cannot get the same price as the travel agent by myself...

DOUBLE DRAT!

My friend Pierre was discussing this with his colleagues this afternoon, and our
mutual friend, Ida, mentioned that her sister Maria is a travel agent. Two phone calls
later: I am reserved on a flight leaving Dorval Airport on November 30th!! It is
with North West Airlines.... and the cost of the ticket, open-return good for
one-year, is only $1150.00 (taxes included)!

I think that the problem with the other travel agency was the risk of fraud from abroad, so because Ida vouched for me, her sister has agreed to do the transaction with my uncle for me.

HURRAY!

The itinerary with North West is not too bad, although I would have
prefered the direct route with Air Canada. On the bright side, there is only one
additional stop and the price makes up for it. In fact, the additional stop is in
Tokyo, so the longest flight is not too long anymore....

Here is the itinerary (all in local times):
9:15.....Departure from Dorval
11:15....Arrival in Detroit
12:45....Departure from Detroit
4:10pm...Arrival in Tokyo
6:00pm...Departure from Tokyo
9:25pm...Arrival inTaipei

Now that THAT'S sorted, I can allow myself to panic about some other things!

I am still waiting for confirmation like my visitor's visa, but it looks like all the plans are nearly finalised! In fact, Nikki has even confirmed that I will have a scooter when I arrive! Her roommate and co-worker, Nancy, is leaving Taiwan and she has agreed to sell me her scooter!

Unless something goes terribly wrong, I will be in Taiwan on December 2nd (It is the earliest I could do it). I have just e-mailed Emily and told her that I will be there by the first week of December. I did this in order to give myself some leeway in case my flight plans change... and to get a chance to explore, sight-see, and get over my jet lag!

I have been reading about Taiwan on-line, and it looks like a beautiful place, I can't wait to see it for myself!

The only drag so far is that I arrive in Taipei at 9:30pm on December 1st, but the only flight from Taipei to Chiayi is the next morning! I will be staying at the Fortuna hotel in Taipei overnight, and then I will be off to Chiayi in the morning!

I have a couple of questions that I keep forgetting to ask Nichole: What do we wear to work? Is there a dress code or a uniform? Should I buy a couple of ties? Do I need to bring a suit jacket?? There are so many things to consider!

I was also thinking about the Visa application: Instead of saying that I am going to visit Nikki, maybe I should say the exact same thing that she said when she applied for her visa.

Apparently you are not allowed to apply for the visa to go to Taiwan if you tell them you are going for employment. This is because you haven't got a work permit... and you can only get a work permit once you are in the country and hired by someone... Explain to me how THAT works...???

So I need to apply as a visitor and put the school's address and put Emily, the boss, as my contact... But what should I put as the reason for the visit? Should I ask Emily what I should put?? I don't know. I guess I'll proceed in whatever way Emily suggests!

Something else I was wondering about: Should I buy converters for my appliances? The voltage is the same in Taiwan as in Canada, but are the plugs the same size?

**SIGH**

Well, gotta run! Off to bed! I still have a job to go to here ...but I gave them my two weeks notice yesterday!! It was nerve wracking, but what a load of my mind!